Speechless
by Kurissyma san Tybalt
Summary: TonksLupin songfic to 'Speechless' by the Veronicas. It takes place before Tonks introduction to the novel when she first meets Lupin, then skips to their first date which should be somewhere in Half Blood Prince. Hope you like! Love Richan


**Disclaimer: I disclaim Harry Potter and all affiliates as well as the song 'Speechless' by The Veronicas. Love Ri-chan. Speechless**

"Remember that time we-?! And we-?! That was so funny!!"

Tonks looked up from her small silver hand-mirror –in which she was attempting to judge a new and especially vibrant bubblegum pink hairstyle- and glanced across The Burrow's backyard. Walking through some fields, towards the house were her cousin Sirius, and some old friend of his. They appeared to be reminiscing about their Hogwarts days as Marauders… or at least, Sirius was reminiscing- the other man was smiling and nodding vaguely. Rolling her eyes, Tonks turned back towards the house- uncharacteristically grumpy and not at all in the mood for her cousin's odd sense of humour. Unfortunately, while attempting to leave in such a manner, being the clumsy excuse for a witch she was, she managed to trip over an unhappy-looking gnome, only to be caught by Sirius' goofy-looking friend just before she hit the ground.

"Are you okay?" he asked, seeming concerned.

Tonks glanced down at her hand-mirror and let out a strangled gasp, "No!! I can't handle another seven years of bad luck! No-oo!"

"I'm sorry about your mirror, but you know-"

"Damn, Remus! For someone who claims to be constantly feeling ill, you sure run fast!" puffed Sirius, catching up.

"This young woman was about to fall-"

"Who? Her? Oh, don't worry about her- she's always tripping over things!"

"_Sirius_!"

"What?!" said Sirius, waving his hands defensively. "Remus, this is my _darling cousin_ Nymphadora."

"I swear, Sirius," Tonks snapped, "if you ever call me that again I'll roast you and fry your brains in frog juice!"

"I think Nymphadora is a beautiful name," said the man, who appeared to be named Remus.

"I go by Tonks," said the metamorphamagus, glaring.

"My name is Remus Lupin."

"Wotcher… You know, we should probably go now, Sirius- Molly has dinner waiting."

"What do you care?" asked Sirius, clasping his cousin's hand brightly. "It's fish- you hate fish."

"Fish," Tonks agreed, "with apple pie for dessert."

Her eyes clouded over slightly at the thought of her treat and Sirius and Remus exchanged grins. "Be sure to eat your veggies too, Nymphy-poo!" Sirius sang, letting go of her hand and ruffling her hair.

Tonks punched him in the gut mercilessly, "bastard…" she muttered.

Remus grabbed him as he made to retaliate, "you know, sometimes I think you're more dog than man, Sirius."

Sirius jerked free and dusted himself off grumpily, "this coming from the werewolf…"

Tonks' eyes widened a little but she soon regained her composure, "I don't need you to stick up for me."

"My apologies," said Remus, bowing slightly.

"And stop being so damn polite!!"

"Excuse- …Never mind."

Tonks shook her head and started towards the kitchen.

"Your cousin doesn't like me," Remus noted dully.

"Of course not, haha! You're a gentleman! She's… her!!" Sirius bellowed happily. "You two come from completely different planets!" He paused to take in Remus' slightly dampened expression. "…Why do you care anyway? You interested in her?"

"Of course not! I only just met her, after all!!"

Sirius grinned, "yeah, but my baby cous' is way hot."

Remus shook his head as the two of them began to follow the scent of Molly's delicious Blue-Eye Cod and famous butter-sauce. "Listen to yourself!" he exclaimed.

"You can have her, ya know?" said Sirius thoughtfully, after a short silence. "It'd be good for her to have a boyfriend whose hair wasn't green for once."

"_I don't even like her!_"

"But you think she's hot right?" Sirius probed, poking him.

"Urgh!"

"Come on, Remus! You're part wolf- shouldn't you be a little more… animalistic?"

Remus glared, giving in. "Look, your cousin is pretty, okay? But there's no way in Hell that I like her that way."

"Whatever you say, man," Sirius sang, jogging ahead.

Remus didn't chase after him- merely sighed and muttered to himself, "…Why do I get the feeling that he doesn't believe me…?"

-

_Feels like I have always known you  
And I swear I dreamt about you  
All those endless nights I was alone  
It's like I've spent forever searching  
Now I know that it was worth it  
With you it feels like I am finally home_

-

Tonks didn't speak with the ex-professor again for several days, but when they did meet, it was hardly more glamorous than their first encounter.

"Bat's droppings!!" she cried, along with a host of other turd-related curses as she tripped down a couple of flights of stairs and found herself slamming into the rock-hard chest of Remus Lupin, whose arms came immediately around her in surprise.

"Ms Tonks?"

Tonks didn't look up for a moment, her face scarlet, but when she met his concerned eyes, she was rather shocked to find how close they were to hers. "Uhh-Uhh, I-"

"Are you going to make a habit of crashing into me, Ms Tonks?"

"For your information, I didn't crash into you last time- you caught me –of your own accord- when I _fell_." said Tonks, pushing him away slightly. "And you should know, really, that Ms Tonks is my mother."

"My apologies," said Remus sincerely.

"What is it with you apologising every time I have a klutz moment, uhm…?"

"Remus."

"Yeah- Remus."

"Well, I'm just trying not to offend you… Tonks."

Tonks grinned sheepishly, "I'm not that hard to be around, am I?"

"Hard to be around?" Remus repeated, "not at all. Your cousin- now he's hard to be around!"

"I thought you guys were best friends?"

"We are," said Remus, "and that's exactly why I can say those things about him."

"So I should really be quite insulted that you're being so polite?" said Tonks, cocking her head to one side in amusement.

"Not at all! Would you prefer I wasn't? Though, I must say, I'm having a hard time remembering all of your little rules as it is. What must it take for a man to get to know you?"

"A man? Quite frankly, it would take a miracle," said Tonks, but she was smiling.

"Well, God knows I must be far past due for one of them already," said Remus, "so I guess I'll be seeing you." He loosed his remaining grip on her elbow and turned to walk away, pausing, only for a moment, to call her by her given name. "…Nymphadora."

-

_Falling head over heels  
Thought I knew how it feels  
But with you it's like the first day of my life_

-

Little more than a year had passed since then and Remus Lupin was head over heels in love- had probably always been- and while he was ever afraid of the consequences, he had finally agreed to try the relationship on a sort of probation. It was a simple date- dinner out at a small, out of the way place, where he wouldn't be recognized as the filthy were-creature that he had become so widely known as.

He wasn't sure, even as he straightened his shirt and pulled on his shoes around 7:30 that evening, that he wanted it to work out at all- convinced that she could never be content with the scorn and contempt that would follow her affiliation with something that wasn't even human.

Tonks, however, had no doubts. She knocked on the heavy wooden door of his dusty apartment, actually on time for once, and let herself in immediately- without even waiting for a reply. "Hey, Remus- you ready to go yet?" Walking into his bedroom, she found him trying to fix his greying hair. "Come on, Remus," she chided him, moving to fix his hair herself, "I don't see why you fuss so much- I'm supposed to be the girl here, after all."

"Yes, but _you're_ a metamorphamagus," Remus reminded her, "_your_ hair does what you tell it to."

"Yes," Tonks agreed, shaking her head with a laugh, "but _you _don't have to mess around with the choice between pink and turquoise, do you?"

"No," said Remus grimly, "mine stays floppy and grey no matter what I do."

"Come on, I didn't mean it like that," said Tonks, rolling her eyes. "I happen to love your hair just the way it is."

"You're just being nice."

"Yes," Tonks agreed. "I am. Now lets go!" She sighed at the pained look Remus afforded her, "look, Remus, stop worrying about your hair and let's get out of here," she kissed his scarred cheek lightly, "you look perfect just as you are- you look like _you_."

Remus shook his head critically, before letting his hands fall and looking her over properly, "you look beautiful," he managed to say with what little breath he could draw from his dry throat.

Tonks giggled happily, pulling at the sides of her flouncy pink dress, "like it? I do!"

"Fantastic," he agreed. "Are we both done being vain now?"

"Quite," said Tonks, and they left.

-

_'Cause you leave me speechless  
When you talk to me  
You leave me breathless  
The way you look at me  
You manage to disarm me  
My soul is shining through  
Can't help but surrender  
My everything to you_

-

It was a nice night. The stars were out, Tonks noted thoughtfully, and the moon was at its farthest from full- she had a feeling he had planned it that way on purpose and she frowned. Was he still trying to hide from her? They arrived at the restaurant a little later and the waiter smiled at Remus and he waved grimly, seeming to recognise him. Only when they got a little closer did she realize that it was Sirius.

"You idiot- I warned you against getting a job," Remus hissed under his breath.

"Which is why I got one in such a remote place," said Sirius, grinning, "you know- where no one would recognise me. Besides, you can't judge- that's why _you_ chose this place after all."

"So, who's your guest? …_Tonks?!_"

Tonks, who had changed her hair immediately to a light blonde upon seeing Sirius, changed it back to pink sheepishly.

"You guys are finally together, then?"

Remus chanced a glance at Tonks, who nodded firmly before catching his eye.

"What's wrong?" asked Sirius, showing them to their table.

"Remus isn't happy about it," said Tonks, sitting down in the chair he pulled out for her and rolling her eyes. "He thinks he's unworthy or some crap like that."

"That's absolute bullshit," said Sirius easily. "If anyone deserves my little cous' it's you, Loony Moony."

Tonks looked up and pulled his face down to kiss his lips briefly. "See? Even my boneheaded cousin thinks so, Remus."

"Can we just order, Ben?" asked Remus gruffly- reading the name off the tag Sirius was wearing as he went to sit down across from her.

Tonks pouted a little but took the menu Sirius offered her without complaint. When they'd finished ordering their dinner, she turned to him determinedly and spun off just about every pleasant thing she could think to say about the evening and the restaurant but gaining no response.

"Remus, why the hell are you just sitting there like a mute… _mute person_?!" she huffed eventually, "Can't you look on the bright side for once? For God's sake, you'd think Harry'd just up and died from the look on your face, and might I point out that, as your date, I might be feeling just a little insulted by that."

"I'm sorry, Tonks."

She softened a little at his helpless tone, "You promised me you'd give us a chance- a real one."

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"Remus, must you _always_ be apologizing like that?"

"Tonks, you keep _criticizing_ me, I'm just trying to do what you want."

"Then forget the damn hell you're a werewolf for tonight, have a dinner with me that falls back on some semblance of normal, then take me home and fuck my brains out."

Remus looked up suddenly, eyes wide.

"I'm in love with you, Remus." Tonks reached a steady hand across the table and he took it in both of his hesitantly, bringing a small smile to her lips.

"The duck salad with caramelized pear- the barramundi and chips."

Both Tonks and Remus flushed brightly as their plates were put down, pulling their hands back and thanking Sirius, who was grinning broadly.

"No problem, guys- you two enjoy," he said, and left.

-

_I thought I could resist you  
I thought that I was strong  
Somehow you were different from what I've known  
I didn't see you coming  
You took me by surprise and  
You stole my heart before I could say no_

-

They ate in silence for a while, but a small comment on Sirius' stupidity as getting a job while still a wanted man, from Remus, eventually spiralled into an in-depth and humorous conversation that had something to do with Tonks' dear cousin's ducky boxers replacing the Hogwarts flag for close to six months in their seventh year.

When it was time to leave, Sirius took it upon himself to declare himself on break and take a few minutes to remind them both, with an impossibly straight look on his face, about the importance of safe sex- earning a couple of equally embarrassed glares from his friends… or ex-friends, as it would probably stand after that humiliating evening.

It may also be considered safe to note that the following night was a large contributor to the marriage that took place two months later and the birth of their first and only child: A young boy to be named Teddy Lupin and grow up under the watchful eye of The Boy Who Lived.

-

_Falling head over heels  
Thought I knew how it feels  
But with you it's like the first day of my life_

-

**Fin **


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